Uighur democracy activist Wu’er Kaixi (吾爾開希) yesterday condemned China for its crackdown on Uighur demonstrators, which Beijing said left more than 140 people dead.
Wu’er Kaixi, a Uighur who lives in Taiwan, said he was shocked by the death toll, adding that it showed that “China’s crackdown had been severe.”
“The bloody conflict took place during the confrontation between the police and the protesters. In other words, the demonstration had been peaceful before the Chinese government dispatched police officers to where the Uighurs had gathered,” Wu’er Kaixi said.
“There is no way China can blame the conflict on the demonstrators again,” he said.
Wu’er Kaixi said the death toll reported by the Chinese authorities had already reached 129, but warned that numbers given by Beijing were unreliable.
Lizih (栗智), deputy director of the World Uighur Congress, said the conflict on Sunday night had left 140 people dead and 828 people injured.
Wu’er Kaixi said China could be trying to intimidate Uighurs and the rest of the world by publicizing the death toll, adding that the actual number was probably much higher than official reports said. The crackdown was no different from the crackdown at Tiananmen Square two decades ago, he said.
Wu’er Kaixi said the conflict was a result of ethnic conflict between Uighurs and Han Chinese, adding that China’s attempt to label Uighurs as “terrorists” and their demonstrations as “terrorist attacks” would not help resolve the ethnic conflict.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS